Naval Postgraduate School's robots on display at annual event

The Naval Postgraduate School's annual robot showcase on Thursday was more "WALL-E" than "Terminator."

Children controlled seafaring robots in a small pool and jumped over reconnaissance scout drones. The Carmel High School robotic team showed off its Frisbee-throwing robot and one fairly harmless robot that resembled the Mars rover cruised around the quad.

It is not that more lethal, and controversial, aspects of the military's use of drones and robots were hidden at the third Robots in the Roses — it just didn't seem to be the focus.

"We all have different views of the world, different backgrounds," Interim President Rear Adm. Jan Tighe said, "and when you talk about Robots in the Roses, each of us may bring to mind a slightly different image."

For Tighe, that image was of robots helping her in the garden. But for the rapidly advancing technology of those involved in modern warfare, the ideas were practical and possibly life-saving for the American military.

A 16-foot-long autonomous river boat was one of the most popular among the crowd of more than 300.

The boat, which took teams at NPS and Virginia Tech about four years to build, is designed to lead a Navy team through one of the more vulnerable areas for the military, a river. It can move at a speed of more than 30 knots and uses sonar and other devices to tell manned boats what is ahead.

"It's nice to put a robot in harm's way as opposed to manpower," said Sean Kragelund, a research assistant in the school's Center for Autonomous Vehicle Research.

Richard Harkins, a senior lecturer in NPS's physics department, said a four-wheeled robot driving around the quad in a figure 8 motion could be used for everything from helping farmers with crops to reconnaissance on the battlefield.

"The world's going to robots," he said.

Lt. J.B. Zorn of the Coast Guard presented some of his research on using unmanned vehicles to reduce human risk and save money.

Zorn's research was partially paid for by the school's drone research coalition, the Consortium for Robotics and Unmanned Systems Education and Research, or CRUSER.

One of Zorn's ideas was using drones to search under ice for oil in the Arctic.

Also on display were robotic diver assistants, lightweight winged drones to be used in "swarms," helicopter-style drones and rolling reconnaissance scouts.

The next generation of robot builders did not seem to be wasting any time.

William Marion, 17, one of the engineers on Carmel High's Frisbee thrower, said he hoped to get a coveted internship at NPS — despite their quick disappearance from online job listings.

"Once they're posted, they're gone," he said.

Emily Rusiecki said she brought her 4-year-old son, Corbin, to the event because he took a liking to robots after a visit to an event in Pennsylvania.

She smiled at the suggestion of Corbin becoming a robot engineer some day.